Can Weight-Loss Surgery Slow Aging Too?

Weight-loss surgery can be life saving for morbidly obese patients – those who are 100 pounds over their ideal body weight, or have a body mass index (BMI) over 40. Not only can surgery improve your heart function, but these key measures of health may improve dramatically: LDL (“bad cholesterol”); fasting insulin; and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, a measure of inflammation in the arteries.

Now there’s evidence that cellular aging itself can be reversed.

A Stanford University study found that some obese patients had significant improvements in their telomere length following weight-loss surgery. The results were recently reported at Obesity Week, the annual meeting of weight-loss surgeons.

Telomeres are caps that protect the ends of chromosomes to keep them from shredding during replication or fusing with neighboring chromosomes. Imagine plastic tips on shoelaces. With each cell division, telomeres shrink a bit more in size, eventually limiting the number of times a cell can divide. The role of cell division is to foster human growth and to repair cell damage, such as when you get a cut.

Additional interventions have shown an effect on telomere length. A study recently published in The Lancet Oncology showed improvement in telomere length from lifestyle changes. A number of men with low-risk prostate cancer was divided into two groups. Some were put on a Mediterranean-type diet, engaged in regular exercise and were taught stress-management techniques. Compared to a control group, these men had significantly longer telomeres after five years.

Stanford researchers, however, are the first to demonstrate improvement in telomere length from a surgical intervention designed to cause weight loss. And the effects were observed over a single year.

In the Stanford study, 51 patients – mostly women – with an average age of 49 years and an average BMI of 44 underwent weight-loss surgery. One year following surgery, patients had lost an average 71% of excess weight.

Their CRP dropped by 60%, fasting insulin by 75% and LDL cholesterol significantly. Patients who had relatively high levels of CRP and LDL before surgery had significant lengthening of their telomeres post-surgery. Patients without significant elevations of CRP and LDL pre-surgery didn’t experience similar telomere lengthening.

All patients lost sizeable amounts of body fat and had improvements in cardiac health. However, those who had signs of inflammation and elevated LDLs related to their obesity gained the most in terms of telomere improvements.

It’s not known whether telomere lengthening from weight-loss surgery actually leads to longer life or other improvements in health. The small sample size and limited study duration make it difficult to draw firm conclusions. But it’s the first study to show improvement in genetic markers related to longer life from surgery.

Minimally invasive lap band, performed through a laparoscope. It restricts the opening to the stomach and reduces the amount of food eaten at one time. Weight loss ranges from 45%-75% after two years.

Gastric bypass creates a small stomach pouch, which is attached to the small intestine. It bypasses much of the stomach and upper small intestine. It can be performed either laparoscopically or as an open procedure. Overall weight loss after two years is between 50% and 75%.

Gastric sleeve surgery reduces the size of the stomach but preserves the normal connection to the upper small intestine. The new, smaller stomach produces less of the hormone gherlin, which causes hunger. Average weight loss after two years is between 33% and 66%.

There are advantages and disadvantages to each weight-loss procedure. However, for morbidly obese patients who are at risk for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, cancer and depression, the surgery can be life-saving. And now, perhaps, even life-extending.